Reverence for the Holy
January 12
"This expedition was undertaken by the Israelites without counsel from
God, without the concurrence of high priest or
prophet."—Patriarchs and
Prophets,
p. 583. God had promised to fight Israel's battles for her. He
knew that even at best the people would be no match for the powerful ene-
mies they would meet. At this point in time the tribes of Israel were a
loosely knit, poorly organized confederacy with virtually no equipment to
match the military might of their troublesome enemy. The Philistines, on
the other hand, were well organized, and superior in military know-how
and sheer numbers. Their monopoly of the use of iron weapons and their
four-wheeled wooden ox-carts made them a formidable enemy.
To their credit, the elders of Israel recognized that their disastrous
defeat was the result of not allowing the Lord to guide them. In trying to
make amends they made matters worse by calling for the ark to be taken
into battle with them.
2.
On what basis did the Israelites make this decision? 1 Sam. 4:3-6
(compare Joshua 6:1-16). What fallacy prompted this action?
1 Sam. 4:7, 8.
The only record of the ark accompanying the Israelites to battle was
under the leadership of Joshua in the taking of Jericho. At that time, they
did so under the specific supervision and instruction of God.
Possibly the Philistines' fish god, Dagon, accompanied the wily ene-
mies of Israel to the battlefront. Perhaps the influence of such pagan cus-
toms led the Israelites to believe that the ark would somehow ensure God's
presence with them. The elders decided to take the ark into battle without
securing divine permission.
The Israelites' presumption.
"They did not consider that it was the
law of God which alone gave to the ark its sacredness, and that its presence
would bring them prosperity only as they obeyed that law. . . .
"The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, eagerly acceded to the pro-
posal to bear the ark into the camp. Without the consent of the high priest,
they ventured presumptuously into the holy of holies, and took from thence
the ark of God. Filled with pride, and elated with the expectation of speedy
victory, they bore it to the camp. And the people, beholding, as they
thought, the token of Jehovah's presence, 'shouted with a great shout, so
that the earth rang again.' "—Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA Bible Com-
mentary,
vol. 2, p. 1011.
3.
Under what circumstances was the Lord enthroned above the ark
of the covenant? Ex. 25:8, 21, 22; 29:45, 46.
Israelites, like their enemies, had come to look upon the ark as a kind of
good-luck charm, if not a god. The ark was sacred because, when it was
placed in the Most Holy apartment of the sanctuary, it was the place where
the person of God was manifested. Nature testifies to God's glory, but na-
15